Wyoming head coach Larry Shyatt, left, speaks with Riley Grabau, right, during a break in play as Wyoming faced New Mexico in a NCAA men’s basketball game on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2015, at Arena-Auditorium in Laramie. (Ryan Dorgan, Casper Star-Tribune)

In advance of Wednesday night’s Mountain West Conference college men’s basketball battle between Colorado State and Wyoming in Laramie, Cowboys coach Larry Shyatt praised CSU.

“Where Colorado State is different than other teams is they are really blessed with being the best offensive team in the league,” Shyatt said.

Colorado State has designated its Saturday night men’s basketball game against San Diego State as CSU’s fifth-annual “White Out” game at Moby Arena in Fort Collins.

Spectators are encouraged to wear white for the 8 p.m. Mountain West Conference battle.

Although neither Colorado State (17-2, 4-2 Mountain West) nor San State (14-4, 4-1) is ranked in the two major top-25 polls, but received the most votes among the league’s teams.

If the polls were extended, San Diego State would be ranked the equivalent of 26th in USA Today coaches poll and No. 28 in the Associated Press media poll. CSU would be 29th by the coaches and No. 33 by the media.

Wyoming (16-3, 5-1) tops the Mountain West standings but received fewer votes in this week’s polls.

Wyoming and CSU do not have midweek games this week. San Diego State plays Tuesday night at Air Force. Wyoming hosts New Mexico on Saturday.

Colorado State’s Rashard Higgins makes a catch in the final seconds between Utah State’s Frankie Sutera, left, and Jalen Davis during an NCAA college football game Saturday, Oct. 18, 2014, in Fort Collins. Colorado State won 16-13. (Erin Hull, The Coloradoan)

No, but the Mountain West Conference is bringing a younger lookalike of the legendary comedian into the league office in Colorado Springs

Greg Burks, who drew second glances for his resemblance to Bob Newhart while serving Monday night as head referee for the inaugural College Football Playoff championship game between Ohio State and Oregon in Arlington, Texas, was named by the Mountain West this week as the league’s coordinator of football officials.

Burks has three decades of experiences as an on-field football official. He has been working games for the Big 12, Mountain West and Southland conferences.

A native of Colorado Springs, Burks is a University of Colorado-Boulder graduate.

Newhart played along with the mention of Burks being his lookalike and tweeted:

“In regards to my new career as head ref for #OSUvsORE — Hey, I don’t have a series anymore — I had to do something”

Garrett Grayson and 15 other seniors will be honored Saturday at CSU-New Mexico game (Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)

For the second consecutive year, Colorado State will be represented at the NFL Combine with multiple participants.

CSU announced that quarterback Garrett Grayson and offensive lineman Ty Sambrailo were invited to the February 17-23 combine in Indianapolis, Ind.

Last February, CSU was represented at the NFL Combine by center Weston Richburg, tight end Crockett Gillmore and running back Kapri Bibbs.

Grayson earned 2014 offensive player of the year honors for the Mountain West Conference after breaking his CSU single-season records for passing yards (4,006) and passing touchdowns (32).

A left tackle protecting Grayson’s blind side, Sambrailo missed two games because of injury this season but graded at least 90 percent in each of the other 11. The Californian was credited with more than 65 knockdown blocks, according to CSU.

A native of the Vancouver, Wash., area, Grayson has accepted invitations to play in the Senior Bowl and East-West Shrine Game. Sambrailo will play in the Senior Bowl.

LAS VEGAS — As I start typing, we’re about 90 minutes from kickoff at the Las Vegas Bowl.

I’ve mentioned this several times the last few weeks, but one of the charms of the bowl season is its unpredictability, especially when nothing major is at stake in individual games.

Often, one team looks as if it isn’t into it. It’s not so much that they don’t want to be there, but are treating the game as an anticlimax rather than a chance to additionally establish credibility and finish the season on an upbeat note. Read more…

LAS VEGAS — On the eve of the Las Vegas Bowl, Colorado State announced it had received signed financial aid agreements — which is more than the infamous alleged verbal commitment that isn’t a commitment at all — from tackle Colby Meeks from Dr. Phillips High in Orlando and from Vanderbilt tight end Mitch Parsons, formerly of Chaparral High School.

It had been known for a long time that the 6-foot-3, 302-pound Meeks, who comes from the same high school that produced junior transfer Dee Hart, freshman wide receiver Deionte Gaines and freshman punter Ricky Buckner, intended to attend CSU. But this was a next step and it also was significant because Jim McElwain, who has had recruiting ties to Dr. Phillips since his time at Alabama, no longer is with the Rams and the announcement — perhaps pointedly — officially was made by interim coach Dave Baldwin. And Baldwin spoke as if he still will be with the Rams. Read more…

As the Colorado State Rams are in Nevada, finishing up preparations for Saturday’s Las Vegas Bowl, the process of finding a replacement for Jim McElwain is continuing. President Tony Frank, interim AD John Morris, plus DHR International consultants Glenn Sugiyama and Pat Richter, have managed to mostly keep the lid on the proceedings. That’s a prerequisite for search firms, as much as possible, because one of the reasons for using them is to maintain privacy and, well, plausible deniability … as in, no, I haven’t heard from anyone at (Fill in name of school). The other layer is agents. Consultants and search services also help lessen the chance of embarrassment on both sides, with the goal of keeping things as quiet as possible and as much as possible preventing candidates (or schools) from appearing to be “rejected.”

But on Wednesday, Georgia AD Greg McGarity confirmed to Georgia.247sports.com, among others, that CSU was interviewing Bulldogs offensive coordinator Mike Bobo. That came out because Bobo, as is required in his contract, notified head coach Mark Richt. Bobo, 40, was a Georgia quarterback from 1993-97, joined Richt’s staff in 2001 and was promoted from quarterbacks coach to offensive coordinator in 2007.

The catch here is that the interviews at this point are considered preliminary, with DHR and a small group of additional CSU insiders charged with screening and vetting possible candidates — a number to be determined — to move along to the next step.

When some reacted to the news of Bobo’s interview with the assumption that he is going to be the Rams’ next coach, that was considerably premature and even a bit naive. This preliminary interview came to light. He might become the Rams’ next coach, but this is part of a bigger picture.

Frank isn’t yet involved and presumably won’t be until final interviews. Read more…

Head coach Dave Logan from Cherry Creek High School for The Denver Post’s 2014 All-Colorado football team on Wednesday, December 10, 2014. (Cyrus McCrimmon, The Denver Post)

OK, I’ve held off on this.

Many have asked me about two in-state figures and the Colorado State football coaching job.

And, yes, those involved in the ongoing search — Tony Frank, John Morris, Glenn Sugiyama and Pat Richter — would be well-advised to at least consider contacting, speaking directly with, and seeking to formally interview Dave Logan and John Wristen. I’ve previously listed other potential candidates from the FBS ranks, including both Scott Frost and Matt Lubick, as far back as mid-November, when Will Muschamp’s firing at Florida was announced. Once anyone gets in the interview room, wherever that is, they’re on their own, of course. But Logan and Wristen are worthy of interviews, and I’d expect they’d come off well to the men doing the search, depending on how open-minded they are.

I probably don’t need to recite Logan’s credentials, but I’ll do it anyway.

Colorado State Rams wide receiver Rashard Higgins #82 gets pushed out of bounds after a pass reception by Air Force Falcons defensive back Justin DeCoud #13 in the first quarter at Falcon Stadium on Nov. 28, 2014. (Andy Cross, The Denver Post)

Colorado State sophomore wide receiver Rashard Higgins was named Thursday to the USA Today All-America Team as a first-team selection.

Former CSU coach Steve Fairchild recruited many of the players that Jim McElwain eventually coached to a 10-win team. (Hyoung Chang, The Denver Post)

Jim McElwain deserves all the credit in the world for turning around Colorado State’s football program in three years.

But once McElwain gets settled in his new office at the University of Florida, he ought to send a handwritten thank you to his predecessor at CSU, Steve Fairchild, for recruiting so many talented players that McElwain inherited in 2012.

Players that starred under McElwain’s watch, but were recruited by Fairchild comprise quite a list. They include:

CSU is looking for a successor to Jim McElwain. (Andy Cross, The Denver Post)

There are two searches going on at Colorado State — for an athletic director to replace Jack Graham and a football coach to succeed Jim McElwain — and the school is using the same search firm, DHR International, as consultant for both.

Interim AD John Morris said at the Thursday news conference following McElwain’s departure that there would be no search committee for the coaching opening. “President Tony Frank will be leading the search for for our head football coach and I will be intimately involved in that with him,” Morris said.

Morris said of using a search firm: “We’re still finalizing details on that.” Read more…

Dave Baldwin, Colorado State’s offensive coordinator, will serve as interim head coach and will lead the team at its upcoming bowl game. Here he’s at the Rams’ indoor practice on the afternoon of Jim McElwain’s departure. Garrett Grayson is at left, and that’s Rashard Higgins at the right, just over Baldwin’s shoulder. (John Leyba, The Denver Post)

The case for Dave Baldwin, the Rams’ interim head coach for the upcoming bowl game, is not just based on the man himself, but also the concept of continuity and stability.

With president Tony Frank and interim athletic director John Morris conducting the search for Jim McElwain’s successor, it’s reasonable — and even advisable — to see who might be out there, whether the predictable candidates or even an unconventional one or two.

That includes (but isn’t limited to) assistants Tony Alford of Notre Dame and Billy Gonzales of Mississippi State, both former CSU players; and Matt Lubick of Oregon, Sonny Lubick’s son.

I’ve gotten indications that Oregon offensive coordinator Scott Frost is inclined to wait and be picky, even among power conference jobs, and is considered unlikely to be interested in the CSU position. The natural job for him, at his alma mater, Nebraska, went to Oregon State’s Mike Riley.

But after checking out who might be interested, or be talked into being interested, and fielding calls and communications from those advocating for their clients or staff members, CSU could weigh everything, decide to strike “interim” from Baldwin’s job title and be in good shape.

After McElwain’s three-season stint, the Rams have a good thing going.

Former CSU tight end Crockett Gillmore of the Ravens and former CSU center Weston Richburg of the New York Giants both weighed in:

The buyout settlement, as noted elsewhere, was $3 million over six years from Florida, $2 million “from Jim McElwain,” plus a $2 million guarantee for a CSU-Florida game from 2017-20.

McElwain’s contract called for $7.5 million in a lump sum paid within 30 days. That was his initial buyout, and it could have gone up if McElwain met certain “achievements” and got additional salary bumps — beyond basic annual raises — in the five-year deal that had annual rollovers that could be triggered by either side.

CSU is not getting a check for $7.5 million by early January. The $5 million will come in over a period of six years. The game at Florida is an asterisk. CSU probably would have had a “paycheck” game in there somewhere, anyway.

Garrett Grayson threw for five touchdowns against Wyoming on Oct. 25. (Andy Cross, The Denver Post)

The Mountain West Conference has named Colorado State quarterback Garrett Grayson the league’s offensive player of the year and Jim McElwain coach of the year. The defensive player of the year honor went to Utah State linebacker Zach Vigil.

Grayson, the senior from the Orchards area outside Vancouver, Wash., is the fourth CSU player to win the MW offensive player of the year, and he joins Bradlee Van Pelt (2002 and ’03), Matt Newton (2000) and Kevin McDougal (1999).

Colorado State Rams head coach Jim McElwain looks on before taking on the Air Force Falcons at Falcon Stadium. (Andy Cross, The Denver Post)

Let’s for a moment say — and this is all hypothetical — that Florida decides Jim McElwain is its pick to succeed the fired Will Muschamp, whether as the first choice or after someone else has said no.

If Florida and McElwain try to negotiate down McElwain’s initial $7.5 million buyout — which is technically McElwain’s obligation — my reaction would be: Wait a minute! We’ve been told for weeks by some that $7.5 million is petty cash, chump change for Florida, and that it would not stand in the way of Florida hiring McElwain if it really wanted to do so.

Colorado State’s Deedra Foss sets the ball during a match against New Mexico. (Photo by Steve Stoner, Loveland Reporter-Herald)

Colorado State senior setter Deedra Foss Monday was named the Mountain West Conference’s volleyball player of the year and teammates Adrianna Culbert, Kelsey Snider and Marlee Reynolds joined her on the 18-player all-league team.

CSU now has had the league player of the year for six consecutive seasons. The previous winners during the run were Danielle Minch (2009, 2010), Katelyn Steffan (2011), Dana Cranston (2012), and Samantha Peters (2013).

Also, junior Libero Jaime Colaizzi was one of six players on the honorable mention list.

Here are the summaries of the choices’ accomplishments, provided by CSU: Read more…

Kensler joined The Denver Post in 1989 and has covered a variety of beats, including Colorado, Colorado State, golf, Olympics and the Denver Broncos. His brush with greatness: losing in a two-on-two pickup basketball game at Ohio State against two-time Heisman Trophy winner Archie Griffin.

Terry Frei graduated from Wheat Ridge High School in the Denver area and has degrees in history and journalism from the University of Colorado-Boulder. He worked for the Rocky Mountain News while attending CU and joined the Post staff after graduation. He has also worked at the Oregonian in Portland, Ore., and The Sporting News. His seventh book, March 1939: Before the Madness, was issued in February 2014.